How the Other Half Lives
by bluemeanie11
Summary: Harry is starting his fifth year, but he, Ron, and Hermione aren't the only ones at Hogwarts learning to deal with the changing wizarding world and the return of You-Know-Who.
1. Don't Miss the Express

Disclaimers and Authors Notes: I do not own Harry Potter, in fact, I do not own much at all, I am just a poor college student. I am not profiting from this except that it gives me something to do other than my school work. I do own the several characters throughout this story that I have invented, but just because you do not recognize a character does not necessarily mean I own them. Some were taken from the student lists at the Harry Potter Lexicon, and are therefore canon characters, even if they have never been mentioned before in the books.   
  
If you enjoy, or if you don't, please do review. I would love to hear what everyone thinks.   
  
And now, on with the show....  
  
Chapter One: Don't Miss the Express  
  
"Wait, wait, wait!" a shrill voice called in the general direction of the Hogwarts Express as smoke began to billow from the steam engine at the front. "No, damn it, not again!"   
  
A thin girl of average height ran as quickly toward the red train as she could. Her short, brown ponytail slapped against the back of her neck as she lugged a heavy trunk towards the train. Just in time, she reached the closest entrance and began to haul her trunk on board.  
  
"At it again, are we, Reilly?" sneered a tall, muscular blond boy from just inside the train. Connie Reilly glared up at the boy through her wire-framed glasses and continued to pull her trunk inside as the conductor watched her in frustration.  
  
"You could help, Montbatten!" she responded. Alexis Montbatten, fellow student and foe, watched as she wrestled with the heavy trunk.  
  
"There you are, Connie. I would say we were wondering, but this is getting to be habit, isn't it?" Mack Tanner, a boy who might have, from a distance, been confused with Alexis, appeared over his shoulder. "Here, let me give you a hand. Don't want to have to leave your trunk behind here at the station. Somehow, I don't think your father could owl it to you."  
  
Together they brought the trunk on board and stowed it in a nearby open space. Alexis sneered through the whole process.   
"Is there something you wanted, Montbatten? Or are you just here trying to see if we turn to stone while looking at you?"  
  
"Cute, Reilly, cute. But I wouldn't mess with Slytherin. Not this year." Connie huffed and pushed her glasses further up her nose while Mack stepped in between them.  
  
"Why is that, Montbatten? Will you be sending You-Know-Who to get us if we do?"  
  
"Why should I have connections to the Dark Lord? Playing on prejudices there, Tanner. And I would have thought Ravenclaws like you two would be smart enough not to do that. No, no, that's not what I mean at all. Haven't you heard, Quincy Franklin is the new Head Boy?" He paused dramatically. "Have a nice year." With that, Alexis disappeared down the aisle towards a compartment full, no doubt, of his Slytherin friends.  
  
"No, no, no. This year gets worse by the minute. Say it isn't so!" Connie dropped her head onto Mack's shoulder in agony.   
  
"I'm afraid it is," came a voice from behind them. "To my chagrin much more than yours, believe me." Mack and Connie turned towards the prefects' compartment to see a fellow seventh year student, Emily LeSuer, standing in the entrance. "I was excited to be Head Girl until I found out."  
  
"You're Head Girl?" Mack looked at the badge on her robes. Emily nodded with pride.  
  
"Oh, Em, that's great!" Connie smiled. "It's wonderful for you. And for Hufflepuff, too. Too bad that asshole, Franklin, has to screw it all up for you!"  
  
"I'll manage. Maybe I'll actually tame him." The three students chuckled. The train whistle was heard from outside. "Well, since all students are now on board, I guess we really are leaving. You two better find seats." Emily turned back to the prefects' car while Mack and Connie started back down the train.  
  
"Do you have a seat yet?"  
  
"Um... I was sitting with Spencer and Jason, Fred and George, and some of the guys. You're welcome to join us..." Connie laughed.  
  
"No, no, that's quite all right. Far too much Quidditch talk in that compartment, I'm sure. No, I'll find somewhere else. Hopefully in friendly territory." Three compartments from the front, the two friends parted ways as Mack disappeared into a room full of teenage boys.   
  
Connie continued down the train, peering in windows until, finally, she found a car with space and, most importantly, no Slytherins. Two of her roommates, Mariah Everett and Lindsay Calderdale, sat on one side of the compartment along with Lena McCue, a sixth year Ravenclaw. On the opposite bench, fifth year Padma Patil and her twin, Parvati, sat, along with Parvati's best friend, Lavender Brown.  
  
"Room for one more?" Connie stuck her head inside. She received a warm welcome as Lindsay moved over, leaving space by the window.  
  
"We were beginning to wonder if you had missed the train, Connie. I mean, I know you're always late to everything, but this was cutting it especially close." Lavender said, looking up from applying apple red nail polish to her fingernails.  
  
"I... it was harder this year. I had to get myself up and ready and to the train this year. And you guys know I don't run on schedule with someone there to tell me what to do." Mariah and Lindsay nodded, having experienced dragging Connie half-ready to class, breakfast, or any number of other places. "You guys know I just live with my dad. Well, he's an auror, and there's been a lot going on lately, so he wasn't really around to help me this year."  
  
"So, it's true then?" Lena, a muggle born who remained largely out of touch with the wizarding world throughout the summer, asked. "I mean, what Professor Dumbledore said, about You-Know-Who returning?"  
  
"It seems so," Lindsay responded. "And... you guys can't tell anyone this, all right?" The other girls all nodded. "Well, my uncle apparently worked closely with Professor Dumbledore the last time around. And now he's been called off to do something, I think because of all of this."  
  
"Is this the uncle with the funny name?"  
  
"Mundungus..."  
  
Parvati snorted loudly, causing Lavender to jerk her hand and smear nail polish across her fingers. "I'm sorry," Parvati giggled, "I really am, because I know it's not nice. But honestly, that has got to be the worst name in the history of names."  
  
"It really is," Lindsay agreed. "And somehow, my mum got a perfectly normal name. Anne. How do you name one child Mundungus and the other Anne?" The girls all giggled for a moment until they heard a loud crash from the hallway.  
  
Mariah and Padma, who were sitting closest to the door, jumped up and Mariah slid the door open. The new Head Boy, Quincy Franklin, was towering over a trembling girl who looked to be a first year. She was sprawled on her back on the floor, looking up at him, as well as Alexis Montbatten and Calynn Rothschild, a seventh year Slytherin girl.  
  
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Mariah, ever the temperamental one, stepped into the aisle. She tossed her brown curls over her shoulder as she stepped over the first year and came face to face with Quincy.   
  
"Not that I have to explain myself to you," he glared down at her. "But she came into the prefects' compartment where, clearly, she didn't belong."  
  
"I was looking for a seat..." the girl squeaked from the floor.  
  
"That was no excuse to come chasing her down the train. My God, Franklin, the poor girl is scared to death. Why, I ought to..." Quick as lightening, she whipped her wand from inside her robes.  
  
Not to be outdone, Quincy pulled his wand out and aimed it directly at her chest. By now, students' heads were appearing in doorways up and down the corridor. Eyes narrowed and wands aimed, neither Quincy nor Mariah was about to back down.  
  
"Stop immediately, both of you!" a commanding adult voice bellowed out of nowhere. Heads swung simultaneously towards the front of the train as all eyes searched out the source of the outburst.  
  
To be continued... 


	2. Prof A Figg, DADA

A dignified older woman stood a few doors away from the compartment outside of which the action was taking place. She appeared to be in her fifties, with graying brown hair falling to her shoulders and bifocals resting on her nose. Her blood red robes combined with the menacing expression on her face to give her the appearance of the devil incarnate.  
  
The students in the hallway froze.  
  
With a flick of her wrist, Quincy and Mariah's wands flew out of their hands and directly to her. She pocketed them and strode purposefully to the students. "You," she grabbed Quincy's ear, "and you," she took Mariah's shoulder in her other hand. "What in the name of Merlin do you think you are doing?"  
  
The two seventh years, in a rush to get their side of the story told, spoke simultaneously. A few of the student observers began to add their opinions as well.  
  
"Silence!" the woman's voice carried the force of a curse as all talking ceased. "You first, Mr. Head Boy," she prodded his badge with her wand. "And nobody else will speak." She glared at all of the students within sight.  
  
Quincy stood as tall as he could with his ear still in the grasp of the shorter woman and tried to look dignified as he spoke. "This girl," he gestured at the first year, still on the floor, "came into the prefects' compartment. I was just doing my duty as Head Boy and showing her to another compartment."  
  
"You..." Mariah began, but was silenced by a glare from the woman.  
  
"I don't believe you," she poked his badge again with her wand and then released him. As he grimaced and rubbed his red ear, she turned to Mariah and tightened her grip on the girl's shoulder. "Now you talk."  
  
"I heard screaming from the hallway, so I came outside. He and his gang of future Death Eaters were terrorizing the first year. All I did was ask him to stop." The woman glared at Mariah as well and swatted her over the top of the head with her wand, but released her shoulder.  
  
"I don't believe you either," she growled. "But, Rachel appears to be fine," the first year blushed, "So I'll not do much to you. Thirty points from each of your houses." With that, she turned and strode back the way she came.  
  
"Um, ma'am?" Quincy called. The woman stopped but did not turn around. "My wand?" She turned slightly and fixed both Quincy and Mariah with a withering smile.  
  
"You'll get them back at your first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. If you behave yourselves until then." And she was gone.  
"Unbelievable!" Quincy glared at Mariah. "This is all your fault, you know! How am I supposed to get by without my wand?"  
  
"Poor baby, boo hoo. You may have noticed I don't have my wand either. And how is it my fault? You were the one chasing the first year down the hall!" Mariah stepped closer to Quincy.  
  
He stepped closer to her as well, placing them almost nose-to-nose. "And you were the one who stuck your nose where it didn't belong. No one was in trouble until you came along." Then he waved his hand toward the first year, "Why do you care about her anyway? Probably just a mudblood."  
  
At this, Mariah raised her hand to slap him, but was quickly pulled away. Lindsay and Padma each took one of her arms and hauled her back into their compartment. Lavender helped the first year off the floor and brought her into the compartment with the rest of the girls. She slammed the door shut behind her.  
  
"I can't believe him!" Mariah glowered from her seat, hunched up between Lindsay and Padma. Connie squeezed back in beside Padma and the other four girls sat down across from them.   
  
"How he, or any Slytherin, got to be Head Boy is beyond me," Parvati muttered. "Are you sure you're okay, Rachel, is it?" She looked to the small girl beside her.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you, all of you."  
  
"Did you know that woman out there?" Connie asked. "Who was she? She's got a worse temper than Mariah, and I didn't think that was possible!"  
  
"That was Mrs. Figg," Rachel answered quietly. "New Defense Against the Dark Arts professor this year."  
  
"What's she doing on the train? Professors never come in on the train!"   
  
"Well, Professor Lupin did, in third year," Parvati responded. The girls looked at her. "What, Harry and his friends sat with him then. I'm in their house, I hear things."  
  
"I'm in their house, too. I didn't hear that. All I heard about that train ride was Harry fainting." Lavender smirked at Parvati. "Oh, I'm sorry, didn't mean to speak badly about your boyfriend."  
  
Parvati blushed. "He's not my boyfriend! One dance at one Ball does not make him my boyfriend!"  
  
"But you wouldn't mind if he was, would you, sis?" Padma grinned.  
  
"Can we just stop this?" Parvati moaned. "We were talking about the psychotic woman on the train. Can we get back to that?"  
  
Padma raised her hands in surrender while Lavender went quietly back to her nail polish. She pulled out her wand and used a quick spell to remove the paint she had smeared across her hand. Finally, Mariah, who was beginning to calm down, spoke.  
  
"So why was she on the train?"  
  
"To protect us from You-Know-Who, I expect," Lindsay began. "Think about, what better way to attack Hogwarts than to board the train and be brought directly there. Or he could just kill us all. This Mrs. Figg is our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, who better to protect us?"  
  
"Enough of this serious talk," Lena butted in. "Almost all we've discussed since we've been on this train has been You-Know-Who. And I know it's important, but come on, let's have fun." She reached into her bag and pulled out two magazines. "When I was in Diagon Alley, I got the latest issue of Teen Witch. There's a new hair charm I'm dying to try. Plus," she showed off the other magazine, Quidditch Weekly, "There's a section on the top 20 best looking Quidditch players in England. With full color photographs!"  
  
All of the girls, even young Rachel, leaned forward and pulled the magazine open to the first player listed, Markus Welsh, a rookie beater for the Ballycastle Bats.  
  
Most of the remainder of the daylong train ride was spent ogling the moving pictures and fighting happily about which player was the best looking. When the witch selling snacks came by, the girls pooled their money to get some of everything and munched away happily at their candies.  
  
Before long, the Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade station and a booming voice instructed the students to leave their belongings on board. Lena stuffed her magazines back into her robe pocket and the girls hurried off the train with Rachel bringing up the rear.  
  
The older girls were about to hurry off and find carriages when Lavender stopped and looked back towards Rachel, standing alone and looking nervous. "It's okay, Rachel, just go with Hagrid, he takes the first years across."  
  
"No, but where is he?" Rachel asked. The girls looked down the platform. The half-giant was, indeed, nowhere to be found. Connie stepped closer and was just about to find a prefect to help Rachel when a movement caught her eye.  
  
"Firs' years over here!" Hagrid stepped from out of nowhere onto the platform. Rachel smiled.  
  
"Thanks for everything," she turned and dashed over to where the first year students were collecting.   
  
"I wonder where he was," Padma spoke, as they followed the crowd of students towards the horseless carriages.  
  
"Just late, I suppose," Connie responded. "I know all about that. We better hurry, the carriages are about to leave."  
  
Most of the carriages were filling up, but the girls were able to find themselves seats in a few. Padma grinned at her sister and flashed her a quick thumbs up as Parvati and Lavender climbed into a carriage that Harry Potter and a few other Gryffindors were sitting in.  
  
Just after Lena closed the door on the carriage she and Connie seated themselves in, it lurched forward and the students began the final part of their journey to school.  
  
To be continued... 


	3. The Sorting

"Truth or dare."  
  
"What?"  
  
"You heard me, Hermione. Simple question. Truth or dare."  
  
Hermione Granger frowned across the carriage at her roommate, Lavender Brown. "Isn't that kind of a Muggle game?"  
  
Lavender grinned. "Sure, I suppose. But what else are we supposed to do here, in this carriage? Play tag?"  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in front of her chest as the horseless carriage bumped along the path to Hogwarts. "Truth, I suppose."  
  
"Wimp," Lavender chided as she sat back to think of her question. "All right. How far did you get with Viktor Krum?"   
  
Ron Weasley jerked his head up in the corner and glared at Lavender. "Just what kind of game is this, anyway?"  
  
"We didn't get anywhere!" Hermione spluttered, glancing edgily at Ron who was grinding his fist into his hand. "We just went to the dance together. That's all." Lavender and Parvati Patil both grinned knowingly at Hermione from their seats. "Honest!"  
  
"I don't know, a dance can be pretty meaningful, can't it Parvati?"  
  
Parvati blushed crimson, as did Harry Potter, who was sitting across from her in the carriage. "It was just a dance, Lavender. I'm sure Hermione didn't even have time to do anything with Viktor, what with Snape prowling around and all."  
  
"Fine, whatever. You're turn, Hermione."  
  
"Do we really have to play this?" Hermione asked. Lavender smiled cheekily at her. "Okay, fine. Umm, Ron."  
  
Ron whirled his head around to face her. "What?"  
  
"Truth or dare."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Don't you know how to play, Ron?" Lavender asked.  
  
"Come on, Ron. It's simple, even I know this one." Harry turned to look at his friend. "If you pick truth, you have to answer a question truthfully. If you pick dare, you have to do the dare."  
  
"That's stupid." Ron glowered. "I've better things to do."  
  
"What?" Hermione asked. "What else is there to do?"  
  
"Oh, leave him." Harry glanced warily at Ron. "Let's just talk about something else. We're practically to Hogwarts, anyway."  
  
Lavender sighed, frowning over at Ron. He didn't notice, having taken up staring out the window at the passing scenery. Parvati glanced at Hermione, both noticing the tension in the small carriage.   
  
Finally, Harry spoke again, "Did you all see what happened on the train? We were too far away."  
  
"With Mariah, the Slytherins, and that psycho lady, Mrs. Figg, you mean? Yes, we all saw it." Lavender grinned. "In fact, if it had gone on a second longer, we might have been part of it," she said, indicating Parvati and herself.  
  
"Mrs. Figg?" Harry asked.  
  
"Yeah, why?"  
  
"A crazy old lady named Mrs. Figg used to babysit me sometimes. And," he paused, thinking. "Last year, I think Professor Dumbledore mentioned a woman named Figg."  
  
"I'll bet it's the same woman," Hermione began, but was interrupted by Ron.  
  
"And I'll bet you'll be running off to the library to research her the moment the feast is over. Too bad Viktor won't be there this year." He turned back to the window while Hermione sunk further into her seat. Parvati glanced at the other occupants of the compartment, all of whom were making mental notes to steer clear of Ron for a while as the carriage pulled to a stop in front of the castle.  
  
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"What was wrong with Ron just now?" Parvati asked Harry as they climbed the steps to the castle. Padma Patil came running up beside her twin sister as Mariah Everett and Lindsay Calderdale stepped to her other side, watching as a bunch of Slytherins hurried into the castle.  
  
"You mean there's not normally something the matter with him?" Padma asked.  
  
"Just because you had a bad experience at one Ball..." Parvati muttered to her sister.  
  
Harry sighed. "It's the Viktor Krum thing," he glanced back at Hermione and Ron, walking in step but with several feet separating them. "He likes her, though he'd never admit it."  
  
"And she likes Viktor," Padma grinned. "Classic."  
  
"Cool off, Padma," Parvati snapped.  
  
"Fine," Padma shrugged. "I was just going to go catch up with Lisa anyway. I didn't get to see her on the train at all." Padma quickened her step, leaving the Gryffindors in her wake. Soon, she fell into stride with Lisa Turpin, one of her roommates, and Terry Boot, a Ravenclaw boy in her year.  
  
The students crowded noisily into the Great Hall and shuffled amongst their friends until all were seated at their house tables. Padma seated herself between Lisa and Lindsay and across from Mack Tanner and Spencer Cunningham, another seventh year boy.  
  
The boys were, as usual, chattering on about the latest Quidditch matches. Padma rolled her eyes as Lindsay pointed to the first years entering the Hall.  
  
"That's her," she pointed Rachel out to Jillian Allaway, a sixth year sitting on her other side. "She was the one that slimy ass, Quincy Franklin, was abusing."  
  
"How did he get to be Head Boy?" Jillian asked as the new students lined up in front of the teachers table.   
  
"Well, Professor Dumbledore doesn't want to look like he's discriminating against Death Eaters, now does he?" Lena McCue smirked.  
  
Jillian frowned. "Why ever not?"  
  
"It's just not practical," Lindsay laughed. "He'd have to eliminate all of Slytherin House and, if he did that it would hurt the wizarding economy. Flourish and Blotts wouldn't make half the money they normally do on school supplies, for example. And, if he barred all of them from school, you can be sure You-Know-Who would want revenge."  
  
Mack laughed, joining their conversation. "So, it's all very logical, is it?"   
  
"Quite."  
  
"You forget one point," Padma began. "You-Know-Who already wants revenge."  
  
"No need to anger him any more than necessary, then, is there?"  
  
Suddenly, the Great Hall got quiet as Professor McGonnagall opened her scroll of parchment and began the sorting. "Aldam, Lavena!" she called, and a small, red haired girl stepped cautiously up to the stool.  
  
The hat rested on her head only a few seconds before bellowing, "RAVENCLAW!" The students already seated at the Ravenclaw table began clapping and cheering. Mack whistled as the girl made her way to the front of the table.   
  
The sorting continued on as attention began to wane. Conversations popped up quietly at the various tables, but everything came screeching to a halt as Professor McGonnagall called another girls name a few minutes later.  
  
"Dumbledore, Rachel."  
  
Every head in the Great Hall whipped to the front as all eyes fixated on the blonde girl as she quickly climbed the steps and pulled the hat on her head. Even the teachers were paying special attention to this girl.  
  
"Quincy Franklin's about to shit his pants now, I expect," Mariah whispered happily from next to Jillian. "The girl he was terrorizing was Professor Dumbledore's granddaughter or something!"  
  
"More like great granddaughter," Lena whispered back. "Seeing as how young she is and how old he is."  
  
"Same difference."  
  
After a few minutes deliberation, the sorting hat reached its decision.  
  
"GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
There was a brief moment of silence and then the Gryffindor table burst into applause as Rachel made her way quickly over to her new housemates.  
  
Once the cheers finally ended, the sorting continued. Jacklynn Fitzpatrick became another new Ravenclaw, while Caitlin Kavanaugh and Tina MacMillan joined Hufflepuff House. Nairi Khan, a sour faced girl with elegant stature and poise moved to the Slytherin table.  
  
As the sorting ended, with Arragon Upshaw, an athletically built boy, joining Gryffindor house, Dumbledore stood up, spoke a few words of welcome, and declared the feast open. Food appeared on the previously empty plates, eliciting startled gasps from many of the first years.  
  
"Excuse me," squeaked a soft voice from behind Lindsay.  
  
Lindsay, Jillian, and Lena turned to see a small blonde girl standing behind them looking nervous. She shuffled her feet, wringing her hands together, her eyes downcast.  
  
"You were just sorted, weren't you?" Lena asked.  
  
The girl nodded quickly.  
  
"Well, foods here, you can eat now, you know," Lena continued. The girl finally looked up.  
  
"That's, um, that's the problem," she said. "There's not much here I can eat. I'm vegan," she went back to looking down to the ground.  
  
"You're what?"  
  
"A little courtesy, Mack," Padma glared across the table at the boy. "Don't make her feel stupid." She turned back to the nervous first year. "What's your name?"  
  
"Jacklynn."  
  
"Okay, Jacklynn. I'm a vegetarian. So the house elves know to make food for me that I eat, and to put it wherever I'm sitting. They'll do the same for you," Padma nodded down towards the area where the first year students were sitting. "Just go back down there, and something will pop up, I'm sure. If not, come back here and I'll get you some stuff, okay?"  
  
"Okay. Thanks." Jacklynn scampered off back down to her seat.  
  
Mack was watching Padma while stuffing his mouth with chicken. "Since when were you a vegetarian?"  
  
"Would it kill you to swallow first, Mack?" she looked disdainfully at him. "And, for your information, I've been vegetarian all my life, thank you very much."  
  
He gulped down his latest bite of food and grinned at her, food stuck in his teeth. "Very welcome!"  
  
Padma rolled her eyes and went back to her own meal as the Great Hall continued to buzz with the excitement of a new year.  
  
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"All right," Spencer Cunningham clapped his hands, gaining the attention of all of his fellow Ravenclaws seated around their library-like common room. "I am Spencer Cunningham. Seventh year, dashing good looks," a few girls snorted, but he continued unperturbed, "and head prefect for Ravenclaw house."  
  
"Hey, wait a second," Connie Reilly glared at him from her seat on the bench of a grand piano.   
  
"Connie here thinks she is head prefect, but I'm going to let you all in on a secret," he spoke conspiratorially. "She came this close," he held his thumb and first finger an inch apart, "to missing the Express this morning. And it's not the first time, either. So I ask you, who is the more responsible of the two of us?"  
  
A few of the older students laughed while the first years watched, unsure of what their responses should be.  
  
"Okay, okay, enough already. Just get on with it, Spencer."  
  
"Right. Okay, so we're going to do what we do every year. Let's face it, the sorting is boring. Mine was boring, yours was boring, we don't pay attention." He paused. "To make a long story short, I can't remember too many of your names. So, we're going to do a little 'game'. We'll go around and each first year will say their name and what subject they think they'll like best."  
  
"Why just us?" a skinny boy with large glasses asked.  
  
"There's far too many of us for us all to go around doing this. The first years do it, and since us older kids will know you, we'll be able to talk to you more, and that's the first step to you knowing us better. Don't worry, nothing to be afraid of, we've all done it," Connie spoke from her bench. "Why don't you start," she pointed to a brunette girl sitting on the sofa nearest the fireplace.  
  
The girl sat up straighter. "I'm Lillah. Lillah Rothschild. Yes, my sister is the horrible seventh year Slytherin. No, I'm not like her." A few people laughed. "And I think my favorite subject will be History of Magic."  
  
"Yeah, right."  
  
"Give it a week, kid."  
  
"A week? Try ten minutes. We're Ravenclaws, the studious ones, and we don't even like that class."  
  
"Hey, hey," Spencer interrupted. "Give it a rest, guys. Thank you, Lillah. Who's next?"  
  
The boy with the large glasses spoke up, "I'm Davis Poole. No brothers, sisters, or relatives of any sort here. That I know of. And definitely my favorite class will be Defense Against the Dark Arts. I want to kick some Death Eater butt!"  
  
"My name's John Gaines," the boy next to him said. "And I think I'll like Transfiguration best."  
  
"Lavena Aldam," the first girl from the sorting spoke.  
  
"Any relation to Julius Aldam?" Conley O'Feir, a seventh year boy, asked.  
  
"Who's Julius Aldam?" a voice called out from the back of the room.   
  
Conley turned to answer. "Top dog in the American Ministry. Well, pretty high, anyway. They're saying he's a shoe in for Minister soon."  
  
"He's my uncle," Lavena answered. "My dad's older brother. And I'll definitely like Transfiguration best."  
  
Jacklynn looked up, realizing she was next in line. She seemed to be summoning up her courage for a moment, and then spoke. "I'm Jacklynn Fitzpatrick. Umm, you could call me Jack or Jacklynn, it doesn't matter." She paused. "I don't know very well what classes there are. Is there a literature class?"  
  
"Not really," Padma said. She was sitting in the chair next to the quiet blonde. "But we have some great books in here. Much better than the school library."  
  
"Okay," she replied meekly.  
  
"Don't worry about not knowing too much about the classes, Jacklynn," Spencer said. "You'll learn soon enough. You're muggle-born, I take it?"   
  
She nodded quickly.  
  
"All right. Well, moving on, there's the two of you left," he pointed to a pair of identical boys sitting on the floor in front of the piano.  
  
The first boy grinned. "I'm Tomas Sebastian."  
  
"And I'm Cowyn. And our favorite class is absolutely, positively..."  
  
"...without a doubt..."  
  
"Quidditch!" Both boys spoke at once.  
  
"All right!" Mack Tanner grinned. "Which makes a perfect segue into my announcement. Try outs for the Quidditch team will be held in three weeks. All are welcome to have a go at it!"  
  
"Mack is captain, by the way," Spencer added. "Well, is there anything else?" No one spoke and a few people nodded their heads no. "Okay then. It's late, I'm tired, I'm sure you are all tired, and I for one need my beauty sleep before classes in the morning, so if there are no further objections, off to bed I say!"  
  
The meeting was adjourned as the girls made their way to the left and their dormitories and the boys headed en masse to the right. Connie, the last to leave the room, muttered a quick spell and the lights flickered off.  
  
To be continued... 


	4. Breakfast is Served

"Oh, thank God!"  
  
"What could you possibly have to thank God, or anyone else, for? We're awake at the crack of dawn!"  
  
"It's hardly the crack of dawn, Connie. And you might be a bit more bright eyed and bushy tailed if you had woken up early enough to take a shower," Mack smirked at her as he slid into the seat next to her in the Great Hall.  
  
"Never mind that," Connie glared at him. "What is Mariah thanking God for?"  
  
Mariah smacked a fresh page of parchment down in front of them. It was the seventh year schedule for the Ravenclaw students. Mack leaned down and read it.  
  
"I don't see anything to be thankful for. We have Potions with the Slytherins for the seventh year in a row!"  
  
"Not that," Mariah pointed to another listing on the schedule. "We have Defense Against the Dark Arts first."  
  
"So?" Connie asked. "It's not like we have a cute teacher this year."  
  
"So, I'll get my wand back, or have you forgotten? It was our new Defense teacher who took it." Mariah snatched her schedule back up. "Oh, and if you want your own copies of the schedule, Spencer has them," she pointed down the table to where the prefect was passing pieces of parchment out to the first years.  
  
Lindsay slid into the seat across from Mariah. "You only get your wand back if you've been on best behavior, remember."  
  
"What are you trying to say, Lindsay?"  
  
"Oh, nothing, Miss Everett... I've just heard naughty..."  
  
Mack reached over quickly and clamped his hand over her mouth, effectively silencing her as he nodded his head in the direction he was looking. The three girls whirled around to see.  
  
Quincy Franklin stood at the front of the Great Hall not ten feet away from where the group of Ravenclaws was sitting. He was talking agitatedly with Professor Snape.  
  
"It's just not fair, Professor, you have to do something," Quincy whined. "I'm Head Boy, I can't function without my wand, and I don't have Defense Against the Dark Arts until Wednesday!"  
  
Mariah snorted with laughter, but quickly quieted as Quincy and Snape turned to glare at her.  
  
"Which student was it you had the problem with?"  
  
"Other than Everett there?" Quincy pointed across the Great Hall to the Gryffindor table. "That little blonde."  
  
"Rachel?" Professor Snape hissed. "You're lucky it was Professor Figg who caught you, then. I should think your punishment would have been far worse otherwise."  
  
Professor Snape turned quickly away and strode to his seat at the head table. Quincy watched his head of house leave in shock as the Ravenclaws who had heard the conversation burst into laughter.  
  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"Oh no," Tomas Sebastian moaned as he looked down at his schedule. "No flying lessons until Friday." Cowyn grabbed for his own schedule and stared at it in disbelief.   
  
Lillah Rothschild grinned at them, "I wouldn't think you two would need lessons, the way you've been boasting."  
  
"We don't need lessons, thank you very much," Cowyn retorted. "Except that lessons are the only time we'll get to fly, being first years and all."  
  
"Flying?" Jacklynn Fitzpatrick whispered nervously.  
  
Cowyn grinned, practically bouncing with excitement as he spoke, "Oh, it's just the best, Jack, you'll love it."  
  
Jacklynn didn't look so sure that she would. "I don't suppose you mean flying in airplanes?" The other students looked at her as if she were speaking another language. "I guess not... do we have to do it?"  
  
"You mean you don't want to?"  
  
"But it's amazing!"  
  
"What's amazing?" Davis Poole asked as he sat down next to Jacklynn. "Something on our schedules?"  
  
Lillah handed him a copy of the schedule, "No, those pretty much suck. Potions this afternoon, but at least it's with Gryffindor. And no flying until Friday."  
  
  
"Forget about that, when's Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Davis reached directly for the nearest plate of food and dumped a pile onto his plate.  
  
"Defense Against the Dark Arts..." Lillah ran her finger down her schedule until she found the class. "Ah ha, here we go, first class is Wednesday morning."  
  
Jacklynn looked up from a banana she was delicately slicing into pieces. "What exactly is Defense Against the Dark Arts?"  
  
"Just what it sounds like," Davis answered through a mouthful of eggs. "We learn how to fight Death Eaters!"  
  
Jacklynn looked even more confused, so Lillah elaborated on this explanation, "Really we just learn about how to defend ourselves against dark spells, curses, wizards, creatures... anything bad, really."  
  
"And Death Eaters are bad?"  
  
The three boys busied themselves with their eating, leaving Lillah to continue the explanation. "Death Eaters are the followers of a very dark wizard who just came back to power last year. He killed a boy who was a student here."  
  
"What's his name? This dark wizard, I mean?"  
  
"We don't say it," Tomas whispered. "Just call him You-Know-Who."  
  
Jacklynn laughed, but stopped when she saw that it wasn't a joke. "You're serious?" They all nodded. "It just seems like, well, like something out of a Spielberg film, I guess."  
  
"A what?" Lillah wrinkled her nose in confusion.  
  
"You mean you guys don't watch films?" Jacklynn asked incredulously. "Do you even know what a film is? Oh dear, where do I start..." she began to explain, finally finding a topic she knew more about than her new housemates did.  
  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"It's our lucky year!" Mandy Brocklehurst grinned as she looked over her new schedule.  
  
"Why is that?" Terry Boot asked as he and Padma Patil sat down across from her.   
  
"See for yourselves," Mandy responded as Spencer Cunningham came over and handed schedules to the two new arrivals. "Just a hint, though, look at herbology."  
  
Terry and Padma both scanned over their schedules quickly, but Terry caught on first, "We've got herbology with Gryffindor this year!"  
  
"But if that's true," Padma looked over the rest of her schedule, "and nothing else's changed, then..."  
  
"We've got nothing with Slytherin!" all three students exclaimed.  
  
"Did I hear the magic words?" Lisa Turpin sat down next to Mandy at the table. "Nothing with Slytherin this year? Oh I knew this would be the best year ever. I knew that old spook Trelawny was crazy!"  
  
Padma grinned, "Why, what did she say?"  
  
"Just that I was in for the worst years of my life." Lisa grinned. "Her crystal ball said so."  
  
"What a fraud," Padma laughed. "According to Parvati, who worships her, of course, she predicts Harry Potter's death all the time."  
  
Terry laughed as Stephen Cornfoot, a skinny boy who looked just like the stereotypical nerd, sat down beside him. "That might just be over-enthusiasm, you know."  
  
"That's true," Mandy added. "He does seem to come close every year, doesn't he?"  
  
"We're talking about Potter?" Stephen confirmed. "Well, first year there was the thing with Professor Quirrell and You-Know-Who, then second year there was whatever happened with You-Know-Who in the Chamber of Secrets, and last year there was... well, you guys all remember last year..."  
  
Terry nodded, "And then third year was the whole bit with Sirius Black. Potter really should've been a goner then."  
  
"Don't talk about what you don't know," Padma warned.  
  
"What is it with you, Padma? Always coming to Black's defense..." Mandy wondered. "Some might think you had a crush on the man."  
  
"Does the Azkaban escapee look do it for you, Padma?" Lisa teased.  
  
Padma stood up, grabbed her book bag, and glared at her friends. "I said don't talk about what you don't know about. Now come on, if you don't mind, we have Transfiguration to get to. I for one don't want to be late on the first day of classes."  
  
To be continued... 


End file.
